Most Unfavourable Ground

Most Unfavourable Ground
Author: Niall Cherry
Publisher: Helion
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

The year of 1914 had been a difficult one for the British Expeditionary Force, the war that had started in August had not been over by the expected time of Christmas. Additionally many of its original members had become casualties and replacements were difficult to find. 1915 did not go much better, the BEF was still a minor player with only a relatively small number of divisions compared to the many in the French Army. The culmination of several attacks by the BEF in 1915 was the attack in the Loos sector in September where in a mining area north of Arras, the largest British offensive of the war thus far took place. Forced into an offensive in an area which as one senior commander put it was on 'most unfavorable ground', the BEF suffered heavy casualties and little material gain. Probably for these reasons the 1915 battles have been largely ignored and there has been a dearth of decent publications on Loos. Helion and Co Ltd are therefore pleased to announce the publication of a major new work Most Unfavourable Ground. The Battle of Loos 1915 by Niall Cherry. Most Unfavourable Ground offers a detailed look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the fighting. As well as using official records and reports, numerous personal stories have been woven into the account. The author's grandfather was present at Loos as a Chemical Corporal with the Royal Engineers gas units and this major new work reflects the author's passion for the subject. Key sales points: A major new work on an oft-neglected and overlooked offensive launched by the British forces in 1915, Draws on a large number of personal accounts in addition to official sources to provide a rich and detailed account, Includes much information about overlooked aspects of the Battle, including the British use of gas, and medical facilities, Features a large number of rare photographs, a comprehensive selection of maps and an extensive number of statistical tables.

The Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos
Author: Philip Warner
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781840222296

"On 25th September 1915, and for a few days afterward, the small town of Loos, between Lens and La Bass?e in Northern France, became the centre of one of the most intense and bloody battles of the First World War ... Philip Warner's narrative is vividly brought to life through the words of survivors from all parts of the line: the infantry, the gunners, the officers, and including extracts from the letters and diaries of Sir John French ... Through their accounts and diaries of the time, they reveal one of the most horrific tales of war yet told as well as the heroism and determination that in the end tipped the scales to victory"--Page 4 of cover.

The Footballer of Loos

The Footballer of Loos
Author: Ed Harris
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2009-08-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 075096250X

The Germans fighting on two fronts were concentrating in the east where the Russians were weakening. In the west, the Allied effort was met with well prepared German defences, and efforts to open a new front on the Gallipoli Peninsula had foundered. Decisive action to break the deadlock on the Western Front saw a mighty attack of six British divisions planned for the autumn of 1915 in the vicinity of the small mining community of Loos en Gohelle where 'The Big Push' would begin. The bitter recriminations that followed the perceived failure reduced the Battle of Loos to a footnote in the history of the Great War for many decades. Entirely lost in translation has been the Boys' Own tale of the Tommy who kicked a football ahead of the charge. That soldier was identified as Rifleman Frank Edwards, and through his original research, Ed Harris clearly establishes for the first time that the first great attack by the British army was begun when Edwards kicked a football towards the German lines. Harris sheds light on what it was like to be a part of this crucial battle and questions the largely held view that Loos was a failure, using material sourced from a wide variety of sources form the Imperial War Museum to the National Football Museum.

The Great Push

The Great Push
Author: Patrick MacGill
Publisher: Birlinn Publishers
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2000
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Patrick MacGill enlisted with the London Irish Rifles in 1915 and The Great Push is the resultant work, written during the Battle of Loos. This story recounts the fear, resilience, humour, and fatalism of those who fought at the raw edge of one of the most terrifying wars ever to have been waged.

The Great Push

The Great Push
Author: Patrick MacGill
Publisher:
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1916
Genre: World War, 1914-1918
ISBN:

Infantry in Battle

Infantry in Battle
Author: Infantry School (U.S.)
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1934
Genre: Infantry drill and tactics
ISBN: 1428916911

The Donkeys

The Donkeys
Author: Alan Clark
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2011-09-30
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1448104025

The landmark exposé of incompetent leadership on the Western Front - why the British troops were lions led by donkeys On 26 September 1915, twelve British battalions – a strength of almost 10,000 men – were ordered to attack German positions in France. In the three-and-a-half hours of the battle, they sustained 8,246 casualties. The Germans suffered no casualties at all. Why did the British Army fail so spectacularly? What can be said of the leadership of generals? And most importantly, could it have all been prevented? In The Donkeys, eminent military historian Alan Clark scrutinises the major battles of that fateful year and casts a steady and revealing light on those in High Command - French, Rawlinson, Watson and Haig among them - whose orders resulted in the virtual destruction of the old professional British Army. Clark paints a vivid and convincing picture of how brave soldiers, the lions, were essentially sent to their deaths by incompetent and indifferent officers – the donkeys. ‘An eloquent and painful book... Clark leaves the impression that vanity and stupidity were the main ingredients of the massacres of 1915. He writes searingly and unforgettably’ Evening Standard

British Artillery on the Western Front in the First World War

British Artillery on the Western Front in the First World War
Author: Sanders Marble
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351954709

In the popular imagination, the battle fields of the Western Front were dominated by the machine gun. Yet soldiers at the time were clear that artillery - not machine guns - dictated the nature, tactics and strategy of the conflict. Only in the last months of the war when the Allies had amassed sufficient numbers of artillery and learned how to use it in an integrated and coherent manner was the stalemate broken and war ended. In this lucid and prize-winning study, the steady development of artillery, and the growing realisation of its primacy within the British Expeditionary Force is charted and analysed. Through an examination of British and Dominion forces operating on the Western Front, the book looks at how tactical and operational changes affected the overall strategy. Chapters cover the role of artillery in supporting infantry attacks, counter-battery work, artillery in defence, training and command and staff arrangements. In line with the 'learning curve' thesis, the work concludes that despite many setbacks and missed opportunities, by 1918 the Royal Artillery had developed effective and coordinated tactics to overcome the defensive advantages of trench warfare that had mired the Western Front in bloody stalemate for the previous three years.

1915

1915
Author: Lyn Macdonald
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 945
Release: 1997-03-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0141961171

Over two decades' research puts Lyn Macdonald among the greatest popular chroniclers of the First World War. In 1915: The Death of Innocence, from the poignant memories of participants, she has once again created an unforgettable slice of military history. By the end of 1914, the battered British forces were bogged down, yet hopeful that promised reinforcements and spring weather would soon lead to a victorious breakthrough. A year later, after appalling losses at Aubers Ridge, Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres and faraway Gallipoli, fighting seemed set to go on for ever. Drawing on extensive interviews, letters and diaries, this book brilliantly evokes the soldiers' dogged heroism, sardonic humour and terrible loss of innocence through 'a year of cobbling together, of frustration, of indecision'. 'It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done just that' Sunday Times Over the past twenty years Lyn Macdonald has established a popular reputation as an author and historian of the First World War. Her books are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors, told in their own words, and cast a unique light on the First World War. Most are published by Penguin.